Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D., Mo.) would not publicly tell MSNBC's Hallie Jackson on Monday who he will support to lead House Democrats as minority leader but stressed he does know who he will vote for.
Cleaver expressed support for both House Minority Leader Pelosi (D., Calif.) and Rep. Tim Ryan (D., Ohio), who is trying to unseat her.
""But I don't think I want to, you know, start campaigning for anybody," he said."
"Congressman, forgive me," Jackson said. "I'm trying to read between the lines here on that answer because I see you are sort of praising both the Pelosi camp and Ryan camp but, personally, who do you support? Who do you think should be the one to lead House Democrats?"
"Well, I think we–at this point, we should listen to Ryan and also Pelosi," Cleaver said.
Jackson was confused.
"You can only vote for one of them, right?" she asked.
He said that was correct and he did plan on voting for one.
Jackson then asked if he was willing to publicly say who he will vote for.
"That said, are you ready to say publicly, congressman, who you support?" she asked.
"No, I'm not," Cleaver said. "Not because I don't know."
He then explained the pros of both candidates, citing the things he hopes to see the Democratic Party do in the future.
"What I want to campaign for is an open conversation to look at where we are," he said. "The light in our lamp is not out. And I think we've got to be careful about suggesting the light is out. It is dimmer than it was pre-November 8."
"But, I think we can do it, and we can do it with Nancy Pelosi as the leader," Cleaver continued. "I think she is open to doing the things that Congressman Ryan is asking for. We do need more leadership coming from young people. He is absolutely right and we need to redirect some of our attention. I represent some rural areas and they need attention as well."